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!!! around chapter europe title !!!<br />
robotdalen – smart assistants<br />
for independent livinG<br />
robots conjure up images of impersonal and<br />
futuristic machines. But many being developed<br />
or tested in central Sweden in ‘robot Valley’<br />
(robotDalen) will change people’s attitudes<br />
towards them forever. new healthcare and<br />
assistive-technology robots can improve quality<br />
of life for the elderly and disabled – a growing<br />
population that often finds itself on European<br />
society’s fringes.<br />
Stretched over an area 100 km across, Robot Valley is a leading<br />
European robotics centre that brings together researchers,<br />
developers, manufacturers and academia. It specialises in<br />
robotics for industry, logistics and healthcare and is backed by<br />
Sweden’s government agency Vinnova, plus various Swedish<br />
authorities, universities and the private sector.<br />
The umbrella project will run until 2013 and enjoys additional<br />
funding from the European Regional Development Fund, with<br />
a view to creating at least five new products and five new<br />
operations or companies during the financing period that ends<br />
in 2010. It has already introduced around 150 small businesses<br />
in its home region to the benefits of robotics and automation.<br />
The EU funding has also raised Robot Valley’s profile and<br />
established links to similar European clusters.<br />
Bringing together national and international robotics<br />
equipment-makers, the project works closely with users such<br />
as hospitals to test new developments. It is now more than half<br />
way towards its initial target of creating 30 new operations or<br />
companies within the robotics field and 30 new products.<br />
Healthcare robotics<br />
Several of the project’s latest robots are designed to ensure a<br />
good quality of life for elderly or disabled people, by keeping<br />
them socially connected and empowered and/or<br />
allowing independent living at home. “When<br />
approaching healthcare, we see our work in terms<br />
of humans rather than robots,” says Erik<br />
Lundqvist, General Manager, Robot Valley.<br />
According to the Japan Robot Association<br />
(JARA), ‘service robots’ (which include robots<br />
for personal, medical and health<br />
applications) could account for a global<br />
market of around €24.35 billion by 2020,<br />
a figure well over twice as high as the<br />
market for manufacturing robots. Robot<br />
Valley believes that most of the growth in<br />
service robotics during this decade will<br />
come from the personal/medical/health<br />
segments.<br />
SomE ExAmPlES of innoVATiVE roBoTiCS<br />
Launched last year, ‘Bestic’ is an eating aid for people with<br />
limited arm movement. The compact table-top robotic arm<br />
has a spoon or pincers at the end, and can be controlled by<br />
buttons or a joystick. Another useful device under development<br />
is the ‘Giraff’, a mobile robot that enables people to<br />
communicate with others via a two-way communications<br />
monitor. “It allows family, friends and caregivers to visit the<br />
elderly in their homes via the Internet, just as if they were face<br />
to face," says Maria Gill, registered nurse and project manager,<br />
ICT in Elderly Care.<br />
Smart robots are vital for human interaction with an ageing<br />
population. ‘Genesis’ is a recently launched machine that helps<br />
people to rebuild muscle after illness or accidents. ‘Zoom’ is<br />
an electric wheelchair able to take users up stairs or off roads.<br />
To enhance healthcare efficiency, the project is also working<br />
on ‘RobCab’, a robot to assist nurses in duties such as shifting<br />
hospital beds.<br />
A maximum of €850 000 per year was allocated to the Robot<br />
Valley project from the ERDF for the 2008 to 2010 period.<br />
finD oUT morE:<br />
www.robotdalen.org<br />
Unique chassis design enables a wide range<br />
of functional exercises<br />
20 panorama 35
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